#576 - The Great Enemy Appears
All night, the desert wind howled, stirring up gravel, obscuring the moonlight, and wandering through the Tiangou Army's camp, leaving only boundless darkness and desolation.
As the newly risen sun in the east pierced the thick morning mist, Li Wutong departed.
She had stood in the cold wind for an entire night, but ultimately chose to leave at dawn.
No one knows where she went. Even if Wei Changtian wanted to investigate, it would be easy.
But as he had said to Li Wutong last night:
"I don't owe you, and you don't owe me."
"There's no need for guilt, and no need to tell me where you're going."
"From now on, we are strangers, each going our own way."
"Young Master, Princess Wuping has left."
In the main tent, Zhang San's voice was somewhat complex: "As you ordered, I didn't send anyone to follow her."
"Mm."
Wei Changtian, looking weary, nodded.
He seemed to hesitate, then softly asked:
"Did she leave any words behind?"
"No."
Zhang San lowered his head, deliberately avoiding Wei Changtian's gaze: "The princess stood outside the military camp not far away all night, and then rode her horse eastward at dawn."
"The princess didn't say a single word from beginning to end."
"..."
"Is that so?"
Standing up, Wei Changtian took a deep breath.
He slowly walked out of the tent, the fresh morning air faintly mixed with the primal scent unique to demon beasts.
The eastern sky was filled with morning glow, like a huge colored veil spread across the boundless yellow sand.
Huailing City in the distance was noisy and bustling, with the sound of drums for the morning meal echoing.
Life is inherently full of partings, may your journey be smooth and the mountains and rivers long.
Wei Changtian never regretted his decision, but his mood at this moment was somewhat indescribable.
Alas, so be it.
His gaze fell on the rosy red morning sun in the sky, and if only looking at the color, it was impossible to tell whether it was dawn or dusk.
He stood in place for a moment, then stepped forward into the soft morning glow.
Wei Changtian faced the light, his shadow stretched out long.
Taichu Year 1, November 9th.
After a night, everything that happened in Huailing City yesterday had spread to the ears of all the major forces.
First, Qin Zhengqiu and Huian stormed the execution ground to rescue Li Qi.
Then, there was the exchange of hostages outside the city.
Due to Wei Changtian's "breach of trust", a great battle was on the verge of breaking out.
But at the critical moment, Qin Zhengqiu suddenly appeared again, stopping the war with a single sword.
Finally, Li Wutong died of poisoning that night.
Except for the authenticity of the last matter still needing verification, everything else was witnessed by countless people, so it was naturally as true as could be.
Two second-rank experts died at once, and Li Qi was also rescued... In this way, Ning Yongnian undoubtedly suffered a great loss, and Wei Changtian made a great profit.
However, Qin Zhengqiu's return for the second time also made everyone understand one thing—
This quasi-first-rank expert was not actually in league with Wei Changtian.
Very few people originally knew about this matter, but now everyone knows it.
For Ning Yongnian, this could be considered "the best of a bad situation," and the pressure he faced was greatly reduced.
However, he didn't mean that he didn't need to guard against the threat from Qin Zhengqiu at all.
After all, what the latter said yesterday was "Ning Yongnian cannot die for the time being."
Cannot die for the time being.
These words undoubtedly meant that after a certain matter was resolved, he could die.
So what exactly is this matter?
Who are the people standing behind Qin Zhengqiu and Huian?
Ning Yongnian didn't know about this, but he did know that this person would definitely take the initiative to find him in the near future.
After all, since he cannot die for the time being, it must be because he can play an irreplaceable role in the process of resolving "that matter."
And before that, that person is both his enemy and his friend.
Two more days passed.
Ning Yongnian, on the one hand, was waiting for Xu Sui to appear, and on the other hand, he was somewhat wary of the Tiangou Army outside the city, so he remained inactive.
Wei Changtian was also happy to see this.
No matter when Xu Sui makes her next move, his purpose in coming to Huailing this time was to delay Ning Yongnian from returning to Da Ning.
Since the latter is not moving now, then he certainly will not move either.
Let's just wait it out, anyway, the longer it drags on, the more beneficial it will be for him.
In this way, with you not moving and me not moving, the situation in Huailing actually fell into a delicate balance because of Qin Zhengqiu's two appearances.
However, Da Ning was not so peaceful.
Wei Xianzhu didn't waste his son's painstaking efforts, and finally completed all the preparations for the "Ascension Ceremony" on November 11th, the Singles' Day shopping festival of his previous life, and pushed Ning Wenjun onto the dragon throne in one fell swoop.
Regardless of whether Ning Yongnian can regain the throne in the future, at least from today onwards, Ning Wenjun is the emperor of Da Ning in the legal sense.
Under Yingfengsheng's threat of "stabilizing grain prices", 28 of the 36 prefectures of Da Ning have clearly stated that they recognize the "legitimacy" of Ning Wenjun's accession to the throne, including even Shu Prefecture and Yang Prefecture, which nominally still belong to Da Ning but have actually split off.
As for the eight prefectures that have not expressed their position...
Obviously, no matter what the reason, they are determined to stand on Ning Yongnian's side.
And among them is the next target on the Shu Kingdom's "Eastern Expedition" route, Cang Prefecture, which is adjacent to Yang Prefecture.
Cang Prefecture is Ning Yongnian's "staunch prefecture", not only is it the hometown of the empress, but it is also the base of Gu Zisheng, the Minister of Justice who was killed by Wei Xianzhu with one palm.
Although the Gu family cannot compare to the Liu and Xu families before they were destroyed, they are also a first-class great family, and have been rooted in Cang Prefecture for hundreds of years.
Although Gu Zisheng and his clansmen in the capital are now dead, there are still many Gu family members left in Cang Prefecture.
They certainly cannot recognize Ning Wenjun, who is clearly a puppet of the Wei family, so they have long been prepared to resist to the end, waiting only for the Shu army to come and attack.
However, Ning Yuke completely ignored Cang Prefecture, but personally led a large army northward to An Prefecture, and then surrounded Jiunan County, trapping all the remnants of the Shu Prefecture battle in the city.
From November 4th, the Huailing City peace talks.
To November 11th, Ning Wenjun ascended the throne.
In just eight days, many unprecedented events have occurred in the two countries of Da Ning and Da Feng, and it is no exaggeration to say that the world has been turned upside down.
Especially Da Ning, it seems that it has never stopped since the "Liu-Wei Dispute".
The Liu-Wei Dispute, the Jizhou Rebellion, the Spring Dragon Rebellion, the Feng-Ning War, the Yuanzhou City Massacre, Ning Yuke claiming the title of King, the Shu Prefecture Battle, the Grain Market Chaos, Ning Wenjun's Usurpation...
In less than two years, not only are only one of the three great families of "Liu, Wei, and Xu" left, but even the emperor has been replaced.
In such a situation, no matter how thick the family fortune is, it is not enough to squander, so Da Ning's national strength has long been weakened to the extreme.
Not to mention Da Feng, which was almost destroyed.
Therefore...
Heaven cannot be defied, and time cannot be lost.
You must know that the principle of "take his life while he's ill" is not only understood by Li Qi, who launched the Feng-Ning War, and not only understood by Ning Yongnian, who designed to slaughter the 500,000 elites of Da Feng...
Just like the emperors with the ambition of "unifying the world" are definitely not just them two.
